1. Field of the Invention
The preset invention relates to a data generation device for generating data used for a detection process by means of a vision sensor arranged in a virtual space, and a detection simulation system having the data generation device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an offline simulation of the prior art, in order to detect the position and orientation of a workpiece in a robot system having a vision sensor, first, the positions of a robot, a vision sensor and a workpiece or a jig for holding the workpiece are determined, and then, calibration is carried out for associating the vision sensor with the robot.
For example, JP H06-137840 A discloses an automatic calibration device, wherein a calibration work having oval reference teaching points is captured by a camera, and the position of each teaching point on an image is identified based on the positions and orientations of the reference teaching points so as to be automatically associated with the position in a space. Then, a camera parameter is calculated using a set of image coordinate values and space coordinate values on each teaching point.
JP H06-175712 A discloses an automatic calibration method, wherein ink, etc., is painted on a bottom surface of a tool attached to a front axis of a robot, and the shape of the tool is transferred on an arbitrary coordinate plane. Then, a transferred image is captured from a plurality of positions by using a vision sensor attached to the front axis, the coordinate of the front axis of the robot is detected based on the captured data by using an image processor and a host computer, and the positional relationship between the front axis of the robot, the tool and the vision sensor is calculated based on the coordinate.
JP H10-340112 A discloses a robot with automatic calibration function, wherein the robot has a robot body to which a robot hand for gripping a workpiece is attached, a camera, and an image processor. The robot further has a measurement piece formed in the shape of the workpiece, a means for measuring the position of the measurement piece based on an image of the measurement piece gripped by the robot hand and positioned on the camera, and a means for calculating the matching of the coordinates of the robot body and the camera based on the control position of the robot body and the position of the measurement piece.
Further, JP H08-071972 A discloses an automatic adjustment method, wherein a robot grips an alignment plate having circles at four corners thereof and moves the alignment plate along robot coordinate axes in each visual field of a camera and between each visual field. Then, the coordinate of the center of the circle in each visual field is calculated so as to carry out calibration and calculate an inclination of the camera based on a deviation between the circles on a camera coordinate, the coordinate of the center of the circle is calculated while the visual fields are overlapped with each other, and an amount of overlapping of the visual fields and a deviation of the camera axis are calculated based on the deviation between the circles on the camera coordinate.
As described above, some conventional techniques have been disclosed, in which the calibration is carried out to identify the positional relationship between the robot and the vision sensor. In such a calibration, measurement operation by using the vision sensor is necessary. Further, such a calibration requires special knowledge and a long period of time, which is a burden for man operator.